On Tuesday, a judge issued a verdict holding former President Donald Trump and his company responsible for fraud in a lawsuit brought forth by the New York Attorney General’s Office.
Judge Arthur Engoron, in a strongly worded decision, revoked the New York business certificates of Trump and the co-defendants involved in the lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court.
CNBC reached out to Attorney General Letitia James’ spokeswoman to inquire whether the ruling prevents Trump and the other defendants from conducting business activities in New York, based on the wording of the judgment.
Engoron, while granting partial summary judgment in favor of James, determined that Trump had provided false and deceptive appraisals for numerous real estate assets in statements submitted to insurers and banks over several years. As a result of these misrepresentations, the decision indicated that Trump had significantly inflated his actual net worth in annual financial reports by billions of dollars.
The judge mandated that, within a 10-day period, the defendants must propose no more than three potential independent receivers to oversee the dissolution of the corporations for which the judge had revoked business certificates.
The list of defendants comprises Trump, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, company executive Jeff McConney, and various corporate entities.
Additionally, the judge imposed fines of $7,500 for each attorney representing the Trump defendants due to the submission of frivolous and previously rejected arguments in court filings.
Engoron’s ruling not only dismissed Trump’s request for a summary judgment in his favor but also left unresolved six other contentious issues in the case. These remaining matters are set to be addressed in an upcoming trial scheduled to commence next Monday.
Attorney General Letitia James is pursuing damages amounting to $250 million in this legal proceeding.
